HC Deb 15 May 1981 vol 4 c361W
Mr. Marks

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report the allowances for which blind and partially sighted people are eligible.

Mr. Rossi

Following is the information:

Direct compensation for blindness or impared vision War disablement pension and additional allowances. Industrial disablement benefit and additional allowances.

Note: These are payable for disablement arising from, respectively, service in the Armed Forces and industrial injury. Total blindness is assessed at the 100 per cent. disablement rate.

General benefits of the social security scheme Blindness or impared vision may be a contributory factor in causing a person to qualify for: Unemployment benefit, Sickness benefit, Invalidity benefit, Non-contributory invalidity pension, Attendance Allowance, Supplementary benefit.

Special addition to supplementary benefit An addition of £1.25 a week (£2.50 for a couple both of whom are blind) is payable to registered blind people receiving supplementary benefit.

Income tax There is an allowance of £360 (£720 for a married couple both of whom are blind) for registered blind people in addition to their other personal allowances.

Other services and concessions Services and concessions available to blind and partially sighted people from other agencies are described in leaflet HB1, "Help for Handicapped People", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Mr. Marks

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the number of people in the United Kingdom who are registered as blind and as partially sighted.

Mr. Rossi

At the latest date for which figures are available, the number of people registered as blind or partially sighted was:

Registered with Local Authorities
England at March 1980 Wales at March 1980
Blind 107,765 7,384
Partially Sighted 51,426 3,928

Registered with the Health and Social Services Boards
Northern Ireland at 31 December 1979
Blind 2,714
Partially Sighted 957

In Scotland, local authorities have no statutory duty to maintain registers, but the Scottish Home and Health Department estimates that on 31 March 1980 there were 11,019 blind people and 3,169 who were partially sighted.